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I’m thinking about a SS or fixie again for just bimbling about on and don’t want to spend much.
Condor look good but as I say I’d like to keep it cheap. Kona Paddy Wagon drop bars would have been ideal but they just don’t seem to be about anymore.
Any suggestions please?
Dolan?
Thanks - will check out Dolan.
CYCLIST.CO.UK Pinnacle Dolomite or Bombtrack Arise are both drop bars
I've always fancied another Pearson Touche SS but they don't do it any more . They still do a couple of others though.
PEARSONCYCLES.CO.UK Genesis Day One - lots on ebay
I miss my Langster, wish I hadn't sold it.
I toy with the idea of another but then my wouldn't see much use if I was using a SS road bike for commuting.
Make sure you can go fixed... Because....
Singlespeed road bikes are shit. My personal opinion obviously but i found spinning out with a freewheel unpleasant wheras on a fixed gear its easier to just kerp pedalling even if you aren't actualy putting any power.
Thanks guys some good ideas there.
Should have said. I love riding my fixed gear!
I’m thinking of selling a Kona Paddy Wagon if you’re interested? Good condition 56cm frame with mostly nice bits. Drop me a line for pics and spec if you’re interested.
Edit: email me at david dot jev at gmail dot com
Or if you're after a larger size I'm still thinking I'll sell my virtually new 60cm Dolan. Open to offers. (Must update the pics now it's been finished with tape etc…)
Edit: OK, so links to classified ads still don't work, then? FFS… Oh well. It's on this list, anyway…
That’s nice Bez. If it was a medium I’d be on for it.
Love a fixie me 🙂
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Get over too lfgss always lots of nice fixed bikes from cheap to ££££££
I ride a day one singlespeed daily. It's great in many ways and I'm by no means a weight weenie but I think I could be riding an older steel frame SS conversion that's a good kilo or more lighter if I gave up the disc brakes!
I've got a medium dolomite disc as going cheap not standard spec £180
That paint job is ace Bez!
Also, the green Bob Jackson.
Love a fixie me. I've got a hankering for a custom commuter frame made from nice steel to replace my DayOne.
Can you guys enlighten a curious person (me !) please....
What are the benefits / point of a singlespeed or fixie road bike ?
Don't get me wrong, I like them and am tempted, but I'm struggling to answer people who say "why ?"
(of course, I do really have some understanding, but just looking for different views)
Thanks !
For me, it's got to be the relative lack of maintenance. I commute on a singlespeed road bike and, but for a change of brake pads, haven't had to do anything other than lube the chain and replace the odd tyre over several thousand miles.
Just good old simplicity. I like not having to think about gears. Which seems trivial, and kind of is, but isn’t. Just pedal. When it goes up, pedal harder. They make your legs hurt and there’s nothing you can do about it, which can be sort of nice.
Also near enough zero maintenance and complete reliability when you go out in any old weather and just dump the bike in the shed.
Losing the freewheel teaches you smooth pedalling, too, but personally I dislike the fact that fixies occasionally try to throw me off and kill me 🙂
Fixed provides a much more efficient transmission, no gear worrying - you are always in the wrong one, you will stop thinking about pedalling. You will build fitness much faster and maintain it more easily. When I ride in a group in a medium chaingang, my HR is always in a higher zone than those on gears.
It's just the best thing (as someone with a LOT of fixed bikes).
For the OP, if new, then the Dolan pre cursa or fxe (same geometry) is a very good alloy choice. I like my custom Kona PW as well. We also have a poo brown Langster, a Dolan Seta track bike (carbon frame) and an old steel track bike. AND... a fixed wheel folding bike which is huge fun too.
Yes I may have a problem. If buyng from stock, Dolan FXE.
Fixed provides a much more efficient transmission
How would it be more efficient than a singlespeed with a freewheel?
(And if it's more efficient and that's a good thing, how come your HR is higher than riders with a derailleur transmission riding at the same speed and that's also a good thing? 😉 )
HR variance is much lower on fixed than geared, you are basically on the go all the time at a higher cadence (typically 95-105 for me). And more efficient than a geared bike. I've only ridden SS off road. But if you spin the crank on my fixed bikes and my geared bikes, there is no comparison.
How would it be more efficient than a singlespeed with a freewheel?
A freewheel adds (a tiny amount) more drag.
My fixed bike has recently gone from drops to riser bars to make it a more relaxed commuter/pub bike. But yep they're far simpler machines, easier to maintain and make you pedal betterer.
Get one!
A freewheel won't add drag when it's engaged because nothing's moving against anything. Certainly both are more efficient than a normal derailleur drivetrain, which adds two jockey wheels.
Fixed and pub bike are not usually words that go together.....
Fixed and pub bike are not usually words that go together…..
I have a wealth of experience to draw up to decry that claim.
A bike of any kind requires no justification. However why i love riding a fixed gear... I just do. Silent positive pedalling. You're basically always in the wrong gear but it doesn't really matter if you are moving you are pedalling while you don't need to go flat out all the time you do tend to find a natural speed and thats generally on the making progress end of the scale. The biggest advantage over a freewheel singlespeed is on the flat. Tall gears will limit your ability to climb so on the flat you're going to be spinning with a singlespeed you reach max spin and you then have to coast until your speed drops again with a fixed gear you just relax and let your feet go round, then when you need more power you just gently apply it. Its a lot smoother than a singlespeed.
I'd argue most of the point made though.
Efficient... Drive train yes but that's insignificant to not maximising your pedalling efficiency.
It is easy to maintain.
It is silent and thats surprisingly enjoyable.
Fixed and pub bike are not usually words that go together…..
Can't remember the last time I took a derailleur to the pub. 😁
I built my first fixed bike about two years ago and was amazed how much I had thought about being on the right gear. That gone, I can just zone out and listen to the tyres hum and feel my legs turning.
Also, I've never been much of a speed biker, and riding a triple-equipped touring bike I had gotten used to just slowing down and spinning up everything. Few months of fixed riding thickened my thighs considerably and made me climb things much faster.
I ride a SS road bike through town on my commute. I feel riding it fixed rather than SS through traffic is dangerous. Guys that love the fixed feeling, are you on quiet routes??
I ride mine everywhere. I have a hard time understanding why it would be more dangerous than a freewheeled bike (I have a front brake). It might even be the contrary, as I feel braking is a kind of failure and tend to modulate my speed much more carefully when on the fixed.
Pedal strikes are of course nastier, but I've never had one, again maybe more careful because of the unpleasant consequences.
I ride a SS road bike through town on my commute. I feel riding it fixed rather than SS through traffic is dangerous. Guys that love the fixed feeling, are you on quiet routes??
I'm Not sure why it would be any more or less more dangerous in traffic than a FW, surely "safety" is down to your ability to stop (brakes) and the way you ride...
I ride mine in various places round town some busier than others, like anyone sometimes I'll take a quieter route, other times circumstances dictate I need to mix it more with traffic...
The only time I maybe miss a FW is going down long steep hills....
I felt like (although, admittedly didn’t give it enough time), that the bike had much more momentum fixed. So if someone just pulled out, which they do a lot, I couldn’t react/slow down as fast as with a freewheel.
On country lanes, I would think it’s lovely though.
But when you stop pedaling, you are actually braking with your legs as well as your brakes. Getting a foot out is a bit more tricky.
I think fixed is just something you need to adapt to.
The main time I tried it, I found the times I came to brake for a junction and forgot I didn't have a freewheel were more than a little fraught, and that tanking down a big hill was unnerving (it didn't help that I'd not long recovered from a significant knee injury). For me, fixed didn't offer enough benefit over a freewheel to warrant having to switch my brain between two modes whenever I changed bike, so I just stopped with the fixed. But I think once you've got your brain dialled in it'd be just fine.
for commuting a fixed is so cheap it's crazy - if you ride fixed you use a front brake and no rear, and yes this is legal and safe, which means that a well built rear (36hole ftw) lasts for eternity because you don't wear down the rim. ideally a disc front brake would be ace.
If you are going to ride fixed a proper geometry frame and 165 cranks are recommended to avoid pedal strike (Dolan !)
I had a dolan precursa for years and loved it, it refused to die and the only thing that finished it off was a BMW x3, and even then the frame survived (it was the forks that were killed) and has been donated to a youth for grasstrack racing
KMC610 chains are the ones to get
a tough rear tyre (gatorskin 28 at 6 bar) and a nice front
go shopping on LFGSS
It does take some riding to get used to fixed but you soon get it dialled in and the switching isn't a problem because the feel reminds you straight away. you find yourself constantly planning the speed using the gear, and a little touch on the brake helps to stop overpedalling. Having a good quality well maintained front brake is key.
I get the momentum/safety thing.
Whenever I try to ride fixed there's always that smidgen more reaction time as you try to brake and think about your feet at the same time, and the temptation to just lock the back wheel to simplify your panic. And braking out of the saddle (i.e. getting your weight back like on any other bike) feels impossible!
I need more practice but I don't think it would ever be quite as quick to stop as a freewheel.
Actually riding in a straight line feels great mind you! As Josh said, you don't sprint and coast like you might with SS. Although I have my road ss geared high enough that it only spun out on descents. I've now dropped from 16 to 18 on the freewheel and put a 16t fixed on the other side intending that to be my commuting gear and the freewheel for hilly days out.
Also there's supposed to be efficiency gains in your legs as you learn to recruit muscles better.
As an aside, do you use SPDs on fixed? I've had a Charge Plug fixed before and enjoyed it immensely, but used straps. How is clipping in on a fixed gear?
I had a fixed gear road bike for a while and really enjoyed most of what it gave. When I say road bike it was an old MTB alloy frame with drop bars, P2 forks and 26" slick tyres.
It did take some getting used to, but "just pedal" eventually came to make great deal of sense. I also have SS MTBs, the fixed gear was an order of magnitude of a workout harder - SS freehub allows you to back off and coast, there is no coast for fixed.
It eventually was moved on, but for simplicity it had a lot of plus points.
"I have a wealth of experience to draw up to decry that claim"
Me too, had plenty of fixies (in fact I even sold one to Bez!) but not sure leaving the pub three sheets to the wind in light drizzle and feeling that unexpected kick in the back of the leg is an ideal experience...
How is clipping in on a fixed gear?
Night and day easier! Trying to reach down to tighten/loosen straps is a complete PITA when your feet won't stay still. Don't know how old roadies managed it back in the day.
The bike does have some rolling inertia when up to speed but you can resist that and control your speed via the pedals quite easily it's quite direct. I can bring the bike to a stop with just the pedals, but obviously stopping distances using that method are much longer for me (My fixie skids aren't that awesome TBH), it's a whole lot more effective combined with a bit of front brake, which is definitely the way to avoid a dozey driver pulling out on you.
I'm not going to say it's better or worse, you can control a bike's speed pretty much as effectively either with or without a FW (IME).
It's OK out in the country, but TBH if I'm going more than say 15 miles I'd rather have gears for the ups and a FW for the descents.
My old flat commute from Reading to Newbury was pretty good fixed, the bike rolled well along the A4 and traffic at either end wasn't too hard to navigate, these days I get to mix it up on everything from tow paths to dual carriageway round town...
Oh and I'm riding with SPDs, big old red M636 DX jobs, so I've a nice big platform if I do miss getting clipped in and I can pop round to the local shop just wearing some Vans or whatever, I'm not keen on faffing with toe clips and straps...
I even sold one to Bez!
Did you? What was that then? (I may have owned too many bikes in my time.)